What does "gouge" mean?
Senses relating to cutting tools.; A chisel with a curved blade for cutting or scooping channels, grooves, or holes in wood, stone, etc.
Gouge
/ɡaʊd͡ʒ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Senses relating to cutting tools.; A chisel with a curved blade for cutting or scooping channels, grooves, or holes in wood, stone, etc.
- Grammar: gouge is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: alveolation, alveolus, auger, avulse.
- Useful contrasts: fair price, fill, reasonable price.
- Usage evidence: I'm going to gouge my eyes out.
How to use "gouge"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gouge" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gouge" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "gouge" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "gouge" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gouge" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "alveolation" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "gouge", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Senses relating to cutting tools.; A chisel with a curved blade for cutting or scooping channels, grooves, or holes in wood, stone, etc. countable, uncountable
"The "steeple" was a little cupola, reared on the very centre of the roof, on four tall pillars of pine, that were fluted with a gouge, and loaded with mouldings."
- 2 the act of gouging wordnet
- 3 Senses relating to cutting tools.; A bookbinder's tool with a curved face, used for blind tooling or gilding. countable, uncountable
"In plate II. are design for two backs of books. The first figure, which presents an appearance of exceeding richness, is executed with one sole tool, viz. No. 10, and a small gouge for the sides of the lettering-piece."
- 4 and edge tool with a blade like a trough for cutting channels or grooves wordnet
- 5 Senses relating to cutting tools.; An incising tool that cuts blanks or forms for envelopes, gloves, etc., from leather, paper, or other materials. countable, uncountable
"Gouge. […] A shaped incising-tool used for cutting out forms or blanks for gloves, envelopes, or other objects cut to a shape from fabric, leather, or paper."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 an impression in a surface (as made by a blow) wordnet
- 7 A cut or groove, as left by a gouge or something sharp. countable, uncountable
"The nail left a deep gouge in the tire."
- 8 An act of gouging. colloquial, countable, uncountable
- 9 A cheat, a fraud; an imposition. countable, slang, uncountable
- 10 An impostor. countable, slang, uncountable
- 11 Soft material lying between the wall of a vein and the solid vein of ore. countable, uncountable
"At some of the mines on the great Mother Lode, where hundreds of tons are not unfrequently thrown down at a blast, and where a wide, soft "gouge" along one wall enables the minder to keep two or three sides of the rock free, and give the powder the greatest opportunity to "lift" without waste of power, the cost of drilling and blasting per ton is so low that a reduction of one-third, even if it could be made, would not greatly affect the general count; […]"
- 12 Information. US, slang, uncountable
"As all naval aviators have learned at one time or another in their careers, “There's plenty of bad gouge out there," and it has, does, and will get the unwary fliers in trouble."
Verb
- 1 To make a groove, hole, or mark in by scooping with or as if with a gouge. transitive
"Japanese and Chinese printers used to gouge characters in wood."
- 2 force with the thumb wordnet
- 3 To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an unfairly or unreasonably high price. transitive
"The company has no competition, so it tends to gouge its customers."
- 4 make a groove in wordnet
- 5 To dig or scoop (something) out with or as if with a gouge; in particular, to use a thumb to push or try to push the eye (of a person) out of its socket. intransitive, transitive
"The recorded cases in which the constituents of the joint were removed at different times, and those also in which the bones or portions of the bones were gouged away, do not by any means afford satisfactory results."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 obtain by coercion or intimidation wordnet
- 7 To use a gouge. intransitive
"Blocks are alſo pieces of wood belonging to ſhips, in which the ſhivers, or ſheaves, of pullies are placed, and wherein the running ropes go. [...] The blocks are then jambed up edgeways with wedges in a clave, and the ſheave-holes are made in this manner: the length and breadth are firſt gouged out, and holes are bored half way through the block, along the part gouged out, with an augre of the ſize of the ſheave-hole; then the ſheave-hole is gouged and bored on the oppoſite ſide in the ſame manner, ſo as to meet the oppoſite holes."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"I'm going to gouge my eyes out."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gouge"?
Common synonyms include: alveolation, alveolus, auger, avulse, bandage, beat.
How do you use "gouge" in a sentence?
I'm going to gouge my eyes out.
How do you pronounce "gouge"?
Pronounced /ɡaʊd͡ʒ/.
Etymology
From Middle English gouge (“chisel with concave blade; gouge”), from Old French gouge, goi (“gouge”), from Late Latin goia, gubia, gulbia (“chisel; piercer”), borrowed from Gaulish *gulbiā, from Proto-Celtic *gulbā, *gulbi, *gulbīnos (“beak, bill”). The English word is cognate with Italian gorbia, gubbia (“ferrule”), Old Breton golb, Old Irish gulba (“beak”), Portuguese goiva, Scottish Gaelic gilb (“chisel”), Spanish gubia (“chisel, gouge”), Welsh gylf (“beak; pointed instrument”), gylyf (“sickle”). The verb is derived from the noun.